Policy

Prof. Maarja Kruusmaa: Nowadays crises are complex, spread quickly and come in cascades
Interview with the European Commission’s Chief Scientific Advisor Prof. Maarja Kruusmaa of Tallinn University (Estonia), about lessons and challenges for future strategic crisis management. For years, the EU has been rushing from crisis to crisis. The European Commission has asked the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission (GCSA) to write a scientific ...

Weiss and Rendtorff: ‘Academic freedom is under threat, and common European action is needed’
Throughout the 20th century, freedom of thought and freedom of speech at Europe’s universities stood as a bulwark in the struggle between totalitarianism and liberal democracy. With the emergence of populism and a society on digital steroids, it’s now more important than ever to strengthen freedom at European universities. Opinion article by Member of the ...

Technological vulnerabilities that threaten the European Union’s ‘Open Strategic Autonomy’ and the EU’s response
According to expert Dr Alice Pannier, 'Strategic Autonomy' is also referred to as 'sovereignty', but it's 'open' in order to not undermine the openness of the EU economy: "If the EU has technological sovereignty, it will be able to act autonomously on the international stage rather than have to rely on foreign suppliers and potentially ...

Interview with Prof. Kurt Deketelaere on academic freedom
"Academic freedom, like freedom of any kind, is not a spontaneous state of affairs. The public authorities must respect, protect, ensure and promote it", says Kurt Deketelaere, Professor of Law and Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). He will speak at the European Parliament’s STOA conference 'How to provide enforceable protection for ...

Professor Andy Way: ‘Smaller languages could soon become extinct online, if the EU doesn’t address the matter’
The EU’s rich linguistic landscape consists of 24 official languages and over 60 regional and minority languages. But when it comes to technology support and digital services, a big imbalance persists between the five most spoken EU languages and the remaining ones. To battle this, a large consortium of 52 partners covering all European countries ...

The (digital) future of work in the post-Covid-19 era
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digitalization and the adoption of new technologies that are having a profound effect on the way we work. It has highlighted the urgent need to protect workers’ rights and to adopt measures that ensure inclusive growth and close the digital divide.

Vaccination policy in times of Covid-19
As multiple COVID-19 vaccines are emerging, what can be done to tackle vaccination hesitancy and ensure rapid and equitable deployment?

Peter Piot interview: The pandemic has catapulted science to the forefront of policy-making
Interview with Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission on the response to the coronavirus and COVID-19: how science has been feeding into policy-making? What does your role as EU special advisor on COVID-19 entail? Peter Piot: I am part ...